Gentleman’s Guide to Fantastic Beasts 41

Gentleman’s Guide to Fantastic Beasts 41

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Wordcount: 2500

Commissioned by Sivantic.

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Interlude: Gale

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Once upon a time, from my father, I had heard of the chambers of a city council.

Called upon to report on the local population of game alongside a multitude of hunters, he and his fellows were fed and cared for over the course of ten days and nights as they were ferried back and forth from our town and city. He told me of having meals so robust that he had to wonder how so few in the city were fat, of being provided fine clothes as an afterthought and groomed for his appearance before the council, and all that paled compared to the chambers that he found himself looking upon.

He told me that beneath a dome covered in paintings of our nation’s history, he knelt before the controller of the city and was surrounded by the gazes of all the authorities of the land. More than a hundred eyes were upon him, nearly all nobility or with immense power, and listened as he knelt and told them all that he knew of the lands outside our town. Once all was over, they sent him back on a ship, with the new clothes he was given, and a bag of coins that supplemented our meals for a whole year.

Then, our town began to have its skilled people taken away, and we were left behind.

He died after setting our home alight with the clothes they gifted him in it, which he had cherished before the betrayal.

Upon approaching a ruined version of the council building, with half the building gone and the dome nowhere to be found, I should’ve felt joy. What was once a place of authority that decided to take our people away for their own benefit, was little more than an open-air forum surrounded by ruins. The battle to take the city had devastated it, leaving only a half-circular wall to surround the floor and the tables and seats upon cracked marble tiles.

Those who sat in the seats were a far cry of the distinguished nobility and merchants that my father described. Though I felt no love for the people who took away our best, they were doubtlessly powerful and capable, and such was needed against the foes that lingered on our doorstep. However, instead of those who radiated power and influence as my father described, all those present were clad in rags, looked nervous in their seats, or were far too young.

Most of all, they all at me with fear and hesitation, and cautiously gazed towards Halga… as he took a seat next to the primary throne of the city council chambers.

In that seat, a wizened warrior sat wearily with a crown of antlers upon his head.

He was weaker than Halga.

“Halga, you went to find the power that entered our lands. You have brought a woman.” The words of their leader sounded like rolling stones grinding against one another. Deep and grating. The note that I was a woman made me blink. I had heard tales that in the former tribal lands, they treated their women like property or at least lesser than men. Their leader did not even deign to address me directly, instead speaking to Halga, who was looking my way with apprehension. I smothered the feeling of distaste and anger. “Are you sure this is the one with the power that we felt?”

“Yes, Chieftain, Gale is the one whose power washed over our city. Do not test her.” Halga’s words made many mutter. Father’s stories told me of old and wizened women being amongst the council he saw, as well as powerful merchants and commanders of knightly orders. Those with skill and talent were elevated within the kingdom. It would, after all, be foolish to disregard one’s talent and potential when so few was born with either. “Her might surpasses mine.”

“Might means nothing with the right temperament.” The older warrior stated and grunted. His eyes were filled with budding anger. I’ve seen this before I received my power. Soldiers summoning hate and disdain in order to yell and demean. They demeaned us, made us feel like parasites, instead of people who had the right to live. They did so in order to make the weight on their hearts lessen. I saw this before… and I would not stand for it now. “Woman, spea—urk!?”

I unleashed my strength, as the physician did.

To deter, to impress the futility of conflict, he unveiled himself to those who  could sense his strength. Though many saw the strength he exuded and felt fear and terror at his abject might, those who knew better feared his control over that strength. Though he unleashed his power, nothing would break in his presence. Wood will not splinter, glass will not break, and metal will not creak under the pressure. Only those he targeted, those he wanted to feel his power, would feel the immense pressure and might that he exuded while all others could look in awe without falling to their knees or losing their breath.

I did not have the same precision or control.

Tiles of marble cracked and broke at my feet. They sounded like glass as spiderweb cracks issues forth from them like snakes rushing towards the chairs in the half-destroyed assembly hall. My power reached wooden desks and chairs and they broke apart into splinters, the nails holding them together creaking and crushing against the floor, while wood splinters flattened. The various councilors present fell to their knees and only a handful managed to stop their heads from hitting the floor by catching themselves with open hands.

They trembled in my presence, practically supplicating, and… their leader was no different from them.

Halga looked at me with wide eyes as he struggled to stand.

He comprehended the truth of the matter.

The power that sent him into a panic and had him approach me… was a mere echo of my true strength.

Some part of me felt relief and vindication, but I cast it aside.

“I have a poor temper, chieftain. I prefer to lash out, instead of holding back.” I told the older man simply, before turning to Halga. I lessened my strength upon him with effort, and he breathed easier in my presence. His eyes were wide, like that of the As’Kari warriors when they felt the true strength of the physician. While he is an entire bonfire, I was but a candle. I can only compare to a great knight, or the city controller I had met with the physician. Him? He could match the strength of royalty, perhaps even overwhelm them. “I have come here to deliver grave tidings. The force that created this oppressive, endless night is on the move. They control monsters, kill mortal adults, and steal away children to become their hosts. Their intentions are plain: they wish to take mortal bodies and forge themselves an empire of their own.”

I took the scrolls given to me by the physician and placed it in Halga’s hands. I was meant to give it to their leader, but the man looked at me with fear and trembling. He made no move to stand or resist.

He won’t be able to hold against the coming threat.

“There in that scroll lies information against the threat. Their aims, their strengths, and their weaknesses.” I looked around, trying to find anyone else who could compare, but found none. Halga’s gaze met mine when I looked at him. “Find those who are strong. Find somewhere defensible and use the methods in the scrolls to screen through the people. If one finds their way into your halls, then devastation will follow. You and your people will become no more than puppets to the monsters that have created this endless night.”

I finished speaking and turned away from them, looking back towards the path I came, where I had passed battles between these people and the crown.

The physician’s words resounded within my mind, of how we had to speak to those with power and who can implement change to contest the parasites, instead of those rebelling against them.

I had hated those words, until I saw the true state of the rebellion.

They were expending themselves so completely against the crown to the point where they couldn’t hope to fight against the true threat.

If the physician had done as I had bid, and rendered help only to those rebelling, then all would’ve been lost.

With those thoughts in mind, I began my journey back to the physician, so that I could train, so that I may grow stronger, and perhaps do something to counter the calamity that was set to befall the world.

Justice must wait for survival.

But in surviving, I can become strong enough to exact the justice that I sought.

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I moved through the city unimpeded and traded for some supplies with coin and tools. A handful of arrowheads were enough to buy some flint, while cloth and salt took coin. The cost of goods was high. The cost of a three days of food in this city was the same as ten back home. If not for my ability to forage and to hunt down monsters for food, I would’ve been beggared just getting supplies to travel back.

As I neared the exit of the city, Halga’s presence made itself known without any arms and armor on his person.

At least, they were mindful enough to not and try and attack me.

“Gale! Wait! They’re willing to listen—

“They’re willing to try and bargain for my strength to aid their cause. My strength is already spoken for. I will be going forth to try and end this threat alongside my mentor.” I told Halga simply, and he winced. The older warrior was apprehensive. I could tell he didn’t wish to entreat me. Yet, still, he followed the commands of the council. “I have nothing to say, besides the fact that I will not raise arms against you or your people. Besides that, I can only bid you good fortune for the coming trials.”

“I… I see.” Halga grimaced and looked about. His features contorted and he seemed older by an entire decade as his worries overtook him. It could not compare to my mentor. When his worries overtook him, he seemed like an elder. Those who were wise beyond words. Those who decided to stay behind and wave us off with a smile as to not trouble us bringing them along. Those who died in their beds after taking their own lives by taking the last of their medicines with spirits. “Thank you.”

He gave a bow and I returned it after a moment, before walking away.

Some part of me wished to stay, but I knew better.

The threat that lay ahead was…

I smelled it.

The scent of the parasite was in the air.

“It’s here.” I looked around. I searched for it. We were near the entrance of the city. I moved swiftly towards the entrance and Halga followed with wide eyes. I threw him a spare knife, and turned to him. “Cover your mouth. If you can wield flame, do so. If you’re hit by the infection… burn whatever is hit away, or you will become taken.”

He nodded and we moved with myself at the front.

A steady stream of people left and entered through the main gate. It was guarded by many people in leather armor who carried spears. Not one of them held a mote of power amongst them, and I grit my teeth. I wouldn’t be able to save them.

I focused on the disease to be treated, the wound threatening to fester and kill the city, rather than those who I could not save.

I did not have as much strength as the physician.

I cannot save everyone.

But I can try.

I gathered strength in my legs, feeling the heat burn and twist within my body, as I layered the protections upon myself and empowered myself at the same time. I felt sharp instances of pain, of my bones cleanly cracking, and I gritted my teeth as I bound them together. He taught me what my body truly is. A composition of organs, of muscle strands, all held by bone and skin and ligaments. Some parts couldn’t be easily remade, but bones could. In fact, they could far too easily be remade, leading to them healing wrong and misshapen.

However, I knew that I was not as capable as reinforcing my bones as I was with my muscle, so I adapted and specialized in the act.

If it broke, forced it to return to its prior shape, and reforged the connections.

Each time, I felt the bones grow stronger, and there will come a day when I will no longer need to heal myself when maximizing my strength and experiencing immense pain when I did.

However, if I wished to save anyone, I had to.

Stone cracked beneath my footfall, as I launched myself through the air, at the hooded figure that reeked of the parasite’s scent… and my eyes met with its own, dark and black orbs hidden by the deep shadows cast by the hood.

It saw me, its eyes widened, and it moved… slowly.

I felt my blood rushing in my veins, I felt my heartbeat slowly emanate from my chest through my ears, and finally I felt air itself resist my movements as I brought my weapons to bear.

He praised me for my speed and my strength, and bid me to focus on improving my precision.

To charge fast, to strike with all my might, and hit a swinging target upon a branch.

A barely moving head was much larger than that.

My knives embedded themselves into the creature's skull, heated to the extreme, and the creature roared out in anguish and pain as I sped past it and skidded to stop by taking hold and catching myself on the stone floor. A deep furrow was formed by my fingers and pain raced my hands, before I knit my wounds and focused on channeling the flame I left behind.

It was not enough.

The creature screamed and ripped my blades out before they could kill it completely.

It roared, people screamed, and it lashed out as it could no longer see.

Whips of black muscle ripped themselves out of the creature and struck so many at once. Many were bisected, others had their limbs ripped off, but worst of all there were those who began to shake and quiver after being scratched with their veins turning black.

If I did not act quickly, this city will fall within hours.